Motorway

M54 traffic and collisions

The M54 is a motorway of 24.8 miles, from Staffordshire to Telford and Wrekin. This page covers its traffic at 16 DfT count points since 2000 and the collisions police recorded on it.

Last updated
Records analysed
16 count points in 2025
Methodology
View methodology
  • Traffic in 2025 461m vehicle miles
  • Average daily traffic 50,949 vehicles a day, both directions
  • Busiest section 74,257 J1 to J2
  • HGV share 9.5% of vehicle miles
  • Traffic since 2019 −0.2% same count points
  • Collisions, 2021 to 2025 63 2.8 per 100m vehicle miles

How busy is the M54?

On an average day in 2025, 50,949 vehicles passed each point on the M54, counting both directions. The busiest section is J1 to J2 (Staffordshire), with 74,257 a day; the quietest listed is J6 to J7, with 22,577.

Busiest sections, 2025

J1 to J2 carries 1.5 times the road’s average flow.

Sections of the M54 with the highest average daily flow, 2025
Section Vehicles a day
J1 to J2 Staffordshire · 1.7 mi · HGVs 9.5% 74,257
M54 Slip Road going into Roundabout at A4510 to M54 Crosses Offoxey Road Staffordshire · 4.0 mi · HGVs 10.7% 62,789
M54 Crosses Offoxey Road to J3 Shropshire · 2.8 mi · HGVs 10.7% 62,789
J3 to J4 Shropshire · 4.9 mi · HGVs 10.3% 60,201
Slip lanes to A5(T) to J6 Telford and Wrekin · 1.7 mi · HGVs 5.7% 56,229
J4 to Slip lanes Telford and Wrekin · 1.7 mi · HGVs 5.7% 49,638
Roundabout where A449 (Stafford Road) and A4510 meet to M54 Slip Road going into Roundabout at A4510 Staffordshire · 0.7 mi · HGVs 10.8% 49,221
M6 (10A) to J1 Staffordshire · 2.4 mi · HGVs 10.4% 48,738
J6 to J7 Telford and Wrekin · 2.5 mi · HGVs 9.2% 22,577

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Route

Staffordshire to Telford and Wrekin · 24.8 miles

Staffordshire Telford and Wrekin
Schematic route: each line joins the junctions at the ends of a DfT count point link.

M54 traffic and collisions by section

10 sections between junctions, in route order. Each is the average of its DfT count points, weighted by length. 6 short link roads and spurs (2.1 miles) count in the road’s totals but are not listed.

Sections Tap a column heading to sort
Sections of the M54 in route order, 2025 traffic
#
1M6 (10A) to J1Staffordshire2.448,73810.4%−6.2%7
2J1 to J2Staffordshire1.774,2579.5%+5.1%114.9
3Roundabout where A449 (Stafford Road) and A4510 meet to M54 Slip Road going into Roundabout at A4510Staffordshire0.749,22110.8%+2.5%fewer than 3
4M54 Slip Road going into Roundabout at A4510 to M54 Crosses Offoxey RoadStaffordshire4.062,78910.7%+7.5%8
5M54 Crosses Offoxey Road to J3Shropshire2.862,78910.7%+7.5%124.0
6J3 to J4Shropshire4.960,20110.3%+0.8%101.9
7J4 to Slip lanesTelford and Wrekin1.749,6385.7%+8.9%5
8At Slip lanesTelford and Wrekin0.339,3605.7%+5.1%fewer than 3
9Slip lanes to A5(T) to J6Telford and Wrekin1.756,2295.7%4
10J6 to J7Telford and Wrekin2.522,5779.2%−43.3%fewer than 3

Vehicles a day is the average daily flow in 2025. “Since 2019” compares the same count points. Collisions are those with the M54 as the first road, placed on the nearest section by their recorded position; rates (per 100 million vehicle miles) are shown for sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more.

M54 traffic by vehicle type

Cars and taxis make up 73.7% of the vehicle miles on the M54. HGVs account for 9.5%, rising to 10.8% on Roundabout where A449 (Stafford Road) and A4510 meet to M54 Slip Road going into Roundabout at A4510.

Vehicle mix, 2025

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

HGV share of traffic

HGVs as a share of vehicle miles on the M54, by year
Year HGV share
2000 13.3%
2001 12.1%
2002 11.7%
2003 11.3%
2004 11.2%
2005 10.6%
2006 10.9%
2007 10.7%
2008 10.9%
2009 10.4%
2010 10.1%
2011 9.7%
2012 10.2%
2013 10.5%
2014 10.4%
2015 10.3%
2016 11.2%
2017 12.1%
2018 12.1%
2019 11.1%
2020 13.6%
2021 12.4%
2022 11.3%
2023 10.2%
2024 9.5%
2025 9.5%

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

M54 traffic trend

Traffic on the M54 came to 461 million vehicle miles in 2025. At the count points present in both years, it is about the same as in 2019, before the pandemic, and up 14.4% on 2015.

Vehicle miles a year

Like for like, traffic is up 39.0% on 2000.

Vehicle miles on the M54 each year, the whole road as it was that year
Year Vehicle miles
2000 323m
2001 340m
2002 342m
2003 365m
2004 375m
2005 382m
2006 371m
2007 363m
2008 366m
2009 360m
2010 342m
2011 366m
2012 375m
2013 380m
2014 402m
2015 403m
2016 423m
2017 453m
2018 461m
2019 458m
2020 348m
2021 424m
2022 465m
2023 475m
2024 462m
2025 461m

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

Average daily flow

Average daily flow along the M54, weighted by link length, by year
Year Vehicles a day
2000 38,618
2001 40,652
2002 40,920
2003 43,638
2004 44,909
2005 45,751
2006 42,321
2007 41,480
2008 41,726
2009 41,042
2010 39,053
2011 41,723
2012 42,780
2013 43,318
2014 45,875
2015 46,031
2016 47,125
2017 50,402
2018 51,350
2019 50,961
2020 38,738
2021 46,830
2022 51,357
2023 52,470
2024 50,983
2025 50,949

Source:DfT,UK Motoring analysis 2000 to 2025 Updated

The chart counts the whole road as it was each year, so new or renumbered stretches move it. The percentage changes compare only count points present in both years. In 2025, 7 of the 16 count points were counted; DfT estimated the rest from earlier counts and local trends.

M54 collisions

Police recorded 63 collisions with the M54 as the first road from 2021 to 2025, 15 of them fatal or serious. That is 2.8 per 100 million vehicle miles, lower than the 4.9 for all motorways in Great Britain. On average there were 0.5 a year for each mile of road.

Reported collisions by year

Down 8.3% from 2021 to 2025.

Police-reported collisions on the M54 by year
Year Collisions
2021 12
2022 16
2023 14
2024 10
2025 11

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

Sections with the highest collision rates

Per 100 million vehicle miles, 2021 to 2025. Sections of half a mile or more with 10 or more collisions.

Collisions per 100 million vehicle miles by section of the M54, 2021 to 2025
Section Per 100m vehicle miles
J1 to J2 Staffordshire · 11 collisions 4.9
M54 Crosses Offoxey Road to J3 Shropshire · 12 collisions 4.0
J3 to J4 Shropshire · 10 collisions 1.9

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

A further 11 collisions were recorded at junctions where the M54 was the second road; they are not in the figures above. Fatal or serious uses DfT’s adjusted serious figures. How we count collisions

Council areas on the M54

In route order. Each is the highway authority DfT files the count points under.

  • Staffordshire
  • Shropshire
  • Telford and Wrekin

Planned closures on the M54 in England

National Highways has 7 planned closures on the M54 between 16 September 2026 and 30 September 2026, all of them starting in that period. 3 close a carriageway rather than a lane or slip road, and 7 start between 7pm and 6am.

  • Lane or slip Lane 2 closure eastbound

    16 Sept 21:00 to 17 Sept 06:00 1 of 2 lanes Road maintenance

  • Carriageway M54 westbound Jct 2 exit slip road closure

    17 Sept 20:00 to 19 Sept 06:00 Construction work

  • Lane or slip Lane 2 closure eastbound

    18 Sept 21:00 to 19 Sept 06:00 Construction work

  • Lane or slip Lane 2 closure eastbound

    19 Sept 21:00 to 20 Sept 06:00 1 of 2 lanes Road maintenance

  • Lane or slip Lane 2 closure eastbound

    21 Sept 21:00 to 23 Sept 06:00 1 of 2 lanes Road maintenance

  • Carriageway M54 eastbound Jct 3 to Jct 2 carriageway closure

    21 Sept 21:00 to 22 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance

  • Carriageway M54 eastbound Jct 3 to Jct 2 carriageway closure

    22 Sept 21:00 to 23 Sept 06:00 Road maintenance

Planned closures only: National Highways can cancel or change them, and closures caused by incidents are not shown. Council roads in England are not covered. Roadworks and closures across the UK

Source:National Highways 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 Updated

Data sources and methodology

Datasets used on this page
Figures Source Period Records Updated
Traffic counts and vehicle mix Road traffic statistics (AADF by count point) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2000 to 2025 16 count points in 2025 15 September 2026
Reported collisions Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 63 reported collisions 15 September 2026
Planned closures Transport Data Feeds (DATEX II) National Highways 2026-09-16 to 2026-09-30 2,304 planned closure schemes 16 September 2026
  • Annual average daily flow (AADF) is the average number of vehicles passing a point on a typical day of the year, both directions combined.
  • Vehicle miles are AADF multiplied by link length and 365, summed over every count point link on the road.
  • Sections join count point links between junctions, using the link lines in DfT’s major road database.
  • STATS19 covers personal injury collisions reported to the police. Damage-only collisions are not included, and not every injury collision is reported.
  • Serious and slight figures are DfT’s adjusted estimates, which allow for police forces moving to injury-based reporting.
  • Counts of one or two collisions below Great Britain level are shown as “fewer than 3”.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds